Dutch PM: Defense minister's remarks were a call for allies to step up support for Ukraine

Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten said on July 8 that his defense minister's remarks that the Netherlands had reached its limit in providing additional military aid to Ukraine were intended as a call for other allies to increase their support.

"It was a call out from my defense minister to other countries that we need them to do more," Jetten told the Kyiv Independent on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara.

"The Netherlands is amongst the five top donor countries to Ukraine, and if more countries support Ukraine, including financially, we can keep the momentum and make sure that Ukraine wins this war against Russia."

Jetten stressed that the Netherlands would continue supporting Ukraine both militarily and economically.

"We will do whatever we need to do to support Ukraine, both on the military front and also on the non-military front," he said.

The prime minister added the Netherlands was looking at additional support for Ukraine's energy system while expanding cooperation on drone and rocket production.

Jetten's comments echoed those of Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen, who told the Kyiv Independent that Finland was also reaching the limits of what it could provide from its military stockpiles after more than four years of supporting Ukraine.

"Of course, I think that there's two pillars: what can you give from stocks or from industry, and how much can you give financial aid," Hakkanen said on the sidelines of the summit. "We already also have challenges to give from stocks anymore."

Hakkanen said Finland had instead significantly expanded its domestic defense industry and increased funding for the PURL initiative, through which European allies finance U.S.-made weapons for Ukraine.

"What we now need is for all the European countries to starting more heavy support, because the defense industry, also in Ukraine and Europe, needs the signal that all the countries are taking part, not just the Netherlands , Nordic countries and Germany," he said.

Yesilgoz-Zegerius, the Dutch defense minister, made the original remarks a day earlier, telling Bloomberg on the sidelines of the NATO summit that the Netherlands had exhausted its capacity to provide additional direct military assistance to Ukraine.

"We don't have opportunities any more as the Netherlands because we have done so much," Yesilgoz-Zegerius said.

Asked specifically about additional Patriot air defense missiles requested by Ukraine, she replied: "We are at our limit."

The Netherlands has allocated €9.1 billion in military assistance to Ukraine and earmarked another €11.6 billion for future support, Bloomberg reported. It has also pledged €1 billion to the PURL initiative.

The Netherlands recently agreed with Ukraine to launch production of Ukrainian unmanned systems on Dutch territory under the Build with Ukraine program and separately announced an additional €500 million package for drones and air defense equipment.